Many types of media devices currently exist for presenting media content to a user. For example, televisions, radios, computers, and a variety of portable or handheld devices are available for presenting various types of audio and/or visual information to a user. Some examples of portable devices include music players (e.g., MP3 players), cell phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), portable televisions, laptops, and the like.
In presenting media to a user, media devices generally display graphics and/or video content. Some media devices display multiple types of content at once by layering one type of content over another. For example, a user interface layer might include a status bar that is displayed at the same time as a video layer is displayed. The process of generating a combination of multiple layers for display can be referred to as compositing.
One drawback to compositing is that it can be resource intensive, causing some devices to suffer in performance. For portable devices that tend to have lower processing and/or memory power, the performance loss can be significant.